1. Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to a method for controlling air pollution, comprising adsorbing one or more gaseous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in air on a granular activated carbon (GAC) obtained from date palm pits.
2. Description of Related Art
Granular activated carbon (GAC) has been used for air pollution control. Also several previous studies report production of activated carbon from date palm pits and other date palm tree byproducts (J. M. Dias, M. C. M. Alvim-Ferraz, M. F. Almeida, J. Rivera-Utrilla, M. Sánchez-Polo, Waste materials for activated carbon preparation and its use in aqueous-phase treatment: A review, J. Environ. Manag. 85 (2007) 833-846; A. A. M. Daifullah, B. S. Girgis, Impact of surface characteristics of activated carbon on adsorption of BTEX, Colloids Surf., A 214 (2003) 181-193; A. Demirbas, Agricultural based activated carbons for the removal of dyes from aqueous solutions: A review, J. Hazard. Mater. 167 (2009) 1-9; Y. A. Alhamed, Adsorption kinetics and performance of packed bed adsorber for phenol removal using activated carbon from dates' stones, J. Hazard. Mater. 170 (2009) 763-770; M. Abdulkarim, F. Abu Al-Rub, Adsorption of lead ions from aqueous solution onto activated carbon and chemically-modified activated carbon prepared from date pits, Adsorpt. Sci. Technol. 22 (2004) 119-134; S. A. Al-Muhtaseb, M. H. El-Naas, S. Abdallah, Removal of aluminum from aqueous solutions by adsorption on date-pit and BDH activated carbons, J. Hazard. Mater. 158 (2008) 300-307; N. S. Awwad, A. A. M. Daifuallah, M. M. S. Ali, Removal of Pb2+, Cd2+, Fe3+, and Sr2+ from aqueous solution by selected activated carbons derived from date pits, Solvent Extr. Ion Exch. 26 (2008) 764-782; F. Banat, S. Al-Asheh, L. Al-Makhadmeh, Evaluation of the use of raw and activated date pits as potential adsorbents for dye containing waters, Process Biochem. 39 (2003) 193-202; M. Belhachemi, R. V. R. A. Rios, F. Addoun, J. Silvestre-Albero, A. Sepúlveda-Escribano, F. Rodríguez-Reinoso, Preparation of activated carbon from date pits: Effect of the activation agent and liquid phase oxidation, J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis 86 (2009) 168-172; C. Bouchelta, M. S. Medjram, O. Bertrand, J.-P. Bellat, Preparation and characterization of activated carbon from date stones by physical activation with steam, J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis 82 (2008) 70-77; M. H. Essa, M. A. Al-Zahrani, Date pits as potential raw materials for the production of active carbons in Saudi Arabia, Int. J. Appl. Environ. Sci. 4 (2009) 47-58; M. H. El-Naas, S. Al-Zuhair, M. A. Alhaija, Reduction of COD in refinery wastewater through adsorption on date-pit activated carbon, J. Hazard. Mater. 173 (2010) 750-757; A. El Nemr, A. Khaled, O. Abdelwahab, A. El-Sikaily, Treatment of wastewater containing toxic chromium using new activated carbon developed from date palm seed, J. Hazard. Mater. 152 (2008) 263-275; B. S. Girgis, A. A. El-Hendawy, Porosity development in activated carbons obtained from date pits under chemical activation with phosphoric acid, Micropor. and Mesopor. Mater. 52 (2002) 105-117; N. M. Haimour, S. Emeish, Utilization of date stones for production of activated carbon using phosphoric acid, Waste Manag. 26 (2006) 651-660; B. H. Hameed., J. M. Salman, A. L. Ahmad, Adsorption isotherm and kinetic modeling of 2,4-D pesticide on activated carbon derived from date stones, J. Hazard. Mater. 163 (2009) 121-126; B. Jibril, O. Houache, R. Al-Maamari, B. Al-Rashidi, Effects of H3PO4 and KOH in carbonization of lignocellulosic material, J. Anal. Appl. Pyrolysis 83 (2008) 151-156; Z. Merzougui, F. Addoun, Effect of oxidant treatment of date pit activated carbons application to the treatment of waters, Desalination 222 (2008) 394-403; K. Riahi, A. B. Mammou, B. B. Thayer, Date-palm fibers as a potential technology for tertiary domestic wastewater treatment, J. Hazard. Mater. 161 (2009a) 608-613; K. Riahi, B. B. Thayer, A. B. Mammou, A. B. Ammar, M. H. Jaafoura, Bisorption characteristics of phosphates from aqueous solution onto Phoenix dactylifera L. date palm fibers, J. of Hazard. Mater. 170 (2009b) 511-519—each incorporated by reference in its entirety). However the application of date palm pits based granular activated carbon (GAC), for air pollution control, has not been reported. The present disclosure establishes successful application of respective GAC material for gas phase benzene pollutant removal as a model gas phase volatile organic compound (VOC).
Benzene and other similar volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are common gas phase pollutants in many waste gas streams. The present disclosure successfully employs the date palm pits based granular activated carbon (GAC) for the removal of gas phase benzene volatile organic compound (VOC) under dynamic continuous gas flow conditions. Countries with large scale date palm fruit farming will benefit by using a local waste material based technology to solve relevant air pollution problems.